Thursday, January 23, 2014

Glittery Pineapple

Did you see the new challenge that was posted on Monday? This week is all about stencils, so I decided to try a technique that I've read about for years but never actually attempted. I tried the Glitzy technique (2/08 issue) from Technique Junkies, and it is a lot of fun!

First, I cut some 6x6 double sided adhesive just slightly larger than the Large Pineapple Brass Stencil. I also cut some white cardstock which is just slightly larger than the 6x6 double sided adhesive I just cut. I carefully peeled the liner away from the back of the adhesive and adhered it to the white cardstock.

Next, I pulled out the Coconut Soap and rubbed it all over the back of the brass pineapple stencil. There were some tiny pieces of shaved soap here and there so I used a brush to swipe those shavings away. I peeled the liner off the top of the adhesive (the piece that was already adhered to the white cardstock) and very carefully placed my stencil over the adhesive with the soap-side down.

You need the soap-side of the stencil to go down onto the adhesive so you can pull the stencil away from it when you are done. If you don't soap up the stencil, your stencil is going to be stuck to the adhesive permanently.

With my stencil in place, and my ceiling fan OFF (hehehehe!), I took the lid off my Autumn Medley glitter. I used a tiny spoon to carefully sprinkle the Autumn Medley glitter all over the bottom of the pineapple. Once the entire bottom was covered, I shook off the excess glitter and returned it to the jar. Then I repeated the process with the Meadow Spark glitter and applied it to the leafy tops of the pineapple.

After I shook off the excess glitter from the pineapple, I accidentally got some green Meadow Spark glitter on the edge of the adhesive. Instead of freaking out about it, I added more green glitter all around the edges for a neat little frame. Then I carefully peeled the adhesive paper away from the brass stencil, taking my time and going very slowly. Because I had heavily soaped up the stencil, it peeled right off.

There is a large area of adhesive left when the stencil is taken off. I covered the entire thing with Crystal Ice glitter and pressed it all in with my fingers. I shook off the excess glitter and then squealed! It's not too bad for my first attempt. :-)

You can see I do have some glitter here and there in the white areas around the pineapple. I can see that next time, I will need to make sure that ALL the glitter is wiped off the stencil before I peel the paper away from the stencil. I also know that I will probably cover the outside adhesive with glitter before I add glitter to the inside stencil areas. The biggest thing I learned is to definitely soap up the stencil very well - it makes a world of difference when you try to remove the stencil from the adhesive. :-)

I can't wait to try this again with some of the other brass stencils. Have you tried this technique? Share your stenciled artwork with us! We'd love to have you play along with our challenge this week! :-)

Very nicely done. Yes, I have tried this technique...Like it, but I managed to get glitter over everything...but it did win me a free stencil at the Dreamweaver website...so It was definitely worth it. smile.